DRIFTING MINES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9821, 19 November 1917, Page 9

DRIFTING MINES

THE PERIL TO SHIPPING. Interesting information on the problems arising out of the perils to shipping from iiiin.es, as welLftS those of the submarine menace, is given in the ‘'Windsor Magazine.” In the course of his article the writer, Mr H. C. Ferraby, says:— “Some idea of the extent to which mines break loose is given by figures published, by tho Dutch and Danish Governments. In two years more than t>oo mines drifted ashore on the shores of Jutland. Up to March Ist, 1915, according to the Dutch figures, 487 had been washed np on the shores of Holland, and by the end of the following twelve months the total had risen to 91a. These were officially classified as follows: 181 British, 53 French. 175 German, 201 unknown. “All British and French mines are clearly marked with the country of their origin, so that the inference is that the 'unknown' 201 were German. The Dutch Government, being neutral, carefully avoided indicating in any way which of the mines were harmless and which were still 'alive,’ but it was known in diplomatic circles, that very few of the German mines were dead. “Again, the Norwegian Government has drawn attention to the fact that many mines break away' from the waters round Heligoland and drift as far as the Norwegian coast, and since the British Navy has not laid any mines in the Bight, it is-obvious that these wandering assassins must all be of German origin. “It is not only single mines that break loose. In March of last year the Swedish Government issued a warning